we are in the city that is too busy to eat. we're going to talk about food desert and m. l.k. iii. we're going to talk with midterm politics, and, of course, georgia is going to play a large role. could this red state turn blue? the answer is yes. for more on that we have ari, abby huntsman, and krystal ball. >> thank you so much. we will check back in with you shortly. this state has become political ground zero. it's a microcosm of the current political fight as well as our changing demographic. from minimum wage, georgia is one of only four states lower than the nerl rate. then there's the guns everywhere law. that was enacted just last month. make sure you pack your gun too. like the nation as a whole, conservative laws like these butting up against a rapidly changing america. the state of georgia boasts the fastest population growth in the southeast. georgia's percentage of eligible african-american voters is more

than double the national average. then there's the rising hispanic population that's nearly doubled in just the past decade. just like in many places around the country, the gop establishment is fighting off its tea party opposition for the open senate seat here hoping to keep the state of georgia red. that chal singe from michelle, a hard-charging democrat intent on keeping the south blue. here on the set with us is patricia murphy. she is the editor of citizen jane politics and she's a daily beast contributor. she covers national politics here in georgia. .risha, thank you so much for being with us today. >> welcome to georgia. >> thank you. we are loving it here. we're having so much fun. i want to start where i left off there in the lead. we are seeing these very far right conservetive laws passing in a state that is slowly trending more and more blue. it's not a blue state by any means, but these laws seem to be out of step with where the population here is actually going. >> i would agree with that.

we have a very, very conservative legislature, house and senate republicans control every statewide office. republicans control both houses. it's not all republicans in the state, of course. i think we do see a disconnect with what the legislature is doing and where the state is going. you can talk about the population changes. pollsters i talk to say georgia doesn't feel like it's there yet to be truly a swing state, but for democrats to win they need to start recruiting really good candidates, and they have some great candidates this cycle. we obviously are seeing michelle nunn on this ticket and carter, the grandson of president carter, the state -- the guy running for agriculture commissioner is the son of a politician. they've recruit aid number of candidates that will do very well. you know, the biggest question is going to be turnout, and so turnout typically in a midterm year is about 2.5 million in a presidential years it's about four million. that's why president obama does d so well.

there's a huge infrastructure. the state democratic party does not have that infrastructure. the only way that they're going to have a chance of winning this year is to raise a lot of poen money and get an enormous different -- a completely different turnout that came out in 2010. >> let's talk a little bit more about that turnout because georgia, unfortunately, was passing restrictive voter id laws really before a lot of other states. they were sort of in the forefront of that, and, yet, despite those restrictive voter id laws, we've actually seen african-american turnout in particular grow even more rapidly than their population growth would imply. do you think that that is just because of having the first african-american president on the presidential ballot, or do you see that as more of a lasting sustainable change? >> i think it's both. i think it was absolutely because barack obama was at the top of that ticket and barack obama had a terrific ground game. he didn't spend a lot of money raising ads when they had to pick and choose. they really didn't pick georgia to spend a lot of their money, but because the president still

came within five points of mitt romney, that sent a message to republicans and democrats alike. georgia is changing, and it's changing quickly. long-term republicans feel like the legislature went too far, the governor went too far, and the republican nominee also voted for that bill. i think people see the legislature going that direction, and they're very uncomfortable. i think it's a good place for democrats to be. the republican party up against the tea party and we're seeing the establishment candidates actually seem like they're going to end up being victorious and might run off against each

other, but really they're leaving the conservative candidates to the curb. with the tea party movement, it really was unsustainable. you think about it lasting longer term. one of two things would have happened, right? they would have taken over the republican party, and then the free party system would have emerged or they would die off, and it seems like that is what we're beginning to see. >> well, i'm not going to put dirt on the grave of the tea party movement just yet. you know, it actually came within just a few thousand votes of beating governor diehl in 2010. she's surging right now. she's come in ahead of kingston and sort of flip-flopping for second and third in these polls, so it could be kingston and perdue. she's a very strong social conservative. georgia remains a very conservative state, especially socially conservative state. i don't know that it's really -- it's not quite as black and white as establishment versus conservative. >> he is very wealthy, but never run for office.

>> i is the cousin of the former governor, though. a lot of voets think that the governor is running. they think david purdue and governor purdue are theere are hammering. >> people always say what is it like to be on a tv show with john huntsman? it adds to the political -- >> we'll get a -- these primary races, are about turnout. it's been fluid, but we see david purdue at 24%. jack kingston, at 17. karen at 14. if you look at the average, but i think the questions goes to the deeper point, which is is the toor party battle within the republican party. is it about issues or also cultural? whether or not purdue has run, i would say he is part of that old guard culture, and kingston, whatever he wants to claim about being about fiscal discipline and change is an old guard long-time incumbent. he is part of the old republican party. he was with bush when it was cool to be with bush.

he may try to reposition, but is the tea party as much about cultural symbols here as it is about policy? >> it is. i would separate it as business republicans and socially conservative and tea party republicans. david purdue is absolutely a business republican. former ceo of reebok and dollar general. he brings that in, and it's very attractive to the business community in atlanta, and he has got ain lot of their support. jack kingston, chamber of commerce, and they are spending millions for him. we have the two business kedz clumped up, and the tea party multiple tea party candidates clumped up, and they are really fighting it out. what we see at a national level with the tea party versus the business and the more moderate praying mattist, we're seeing the exact same thing. >> georgia is sort of following in the footsteps of north carolina. maybe a few years behind. >> pollsters i talk to say yes. the dem graphic changes that have happened in virginia and northern virginia and in north carolina with the triangle, those are the changes happening in the atlanta area in particular. is georgia as close to being a

blue state as virginia? no. is it as close to being a purple state as north carolina? probably not. individual candidates can change that. the candidates that the democrats have recruited or can decide to come forward on their own, those are the candidates you need to win a race in this state that is still trending. >> talk a little bit about those candidates because they are relatively unique individuals. they have really well known names. you have jason carter, as you were pointing out. grandson of jimmy carter. you have michelle nun also a famous political name in the state. are these candidates doing well here just because of their name, or does it speak more to sort of the trending blue of this state? also, do they really have a shot to win, or once the field solidifies on the senate side, are they going to -- is michelle going to have a tougher battle there? >> it really depends on who the republicans nominate against michelle nunn. if the republicans nominate one of the tea party conservatives, possibly caryn hindle or paul

brown. if any of those wins, democrats feel like they have an excellent chance of beating them. if purdue comes forward as a republican nominee or even kingston, those guys raise a ton of money. they have very sophisticated operations. they already have a very strong ground game because they have such tough primaries. they are going to take that momentum with them into the fall. for michelle, she's not necessarily going to be the master of her own dis destiny. the republicans will have to help her out a little bit, and then for jason carter, i think everybody agrees that he is a very bright light for democrats. can he beat an incumbent governor who has collars $4 million in the bank. the governor is going to have to make some mistakes. he does have a number of ethics charges against him. those are playing out throughout the fall and summer. again, he needs to really have a bad stumble for carter to come back. it's possible. georgia, having democrats able to win an election in more than a decade. it's a very different landscape. >> the thing i think that a lot of us are thinking is we're

looking at some of the national indicators, the president's popularity is down, health care law still not popular on the generic congressional ballot, republicans are doing better than democrats, but then when you look at a state like georgia and say democrats have a chance to win there, it seems like the specific on the ground not just in georgia, but in arkansas, potentially in north carolina with mary landrieu in louisiana, it seems like the specifics in these states are making democrats more competitive than the national landscape would sort of dictate. >> i agree that, and, again, it comes down to recruiting very strong candidates, which they have done so here. even the health care law -- obama care not popular, but when you look at what's happening in the state, the governor chose not to take the medicaid money, so there are 500,000 people not eligible who would have been. even more importantly, a number of small rural hospitals are falling through that crack. woe see a number of small rural hospitals in conservative areas of the state closing down. that is a hugely important thing

to local communities and to see what looks to be a political decision by the governor of closing down rural hospitals that really is about -- that starts to make people think twice. you start to couple that with the guns everywhere bill, and see somebody like michelle nun still very popular in the state and well respected and respected by republicans. you can start to see how the stars could line up for democrats. again, they're not necessarily going to be in charge of their own destiny on this one, but it's possible. again, it's -- that's a very different reality for democrats who have been sort of slogging away in the trenches for the last decade. >> absolutely. it's so interesting to look at national politics that we talk about so much through sort of the local state lens and see how those trends matter. >> patricia murphy, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> we are just getting started here. msnbc's growing hope event live here in atlanta, and you can see of it like the pregame. we're warming up to the rev at 6:00 p.m. eastern, and then at

8:00 we've got chris hayes. he is also live from right here at the sweet auburn festival. we are growing hope, and up next the mission of civil rights marches on here and across the nation. martin luther king iii joins us as the cycle rolls on. live from atlanta for friday, march 9th. this is the first power plant in the country to combine solar and natural gas at the same location. during the day, we generate as much electricity as we can using solar. at night and when it's cloudy, we use more natural gas. this ensures we can produce clean electricity whenever our customers need it. ♪

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snoo he came to atlanta bsh the civil rights movement started here, right here, 501 autumn avenue. this is where martin luther king jr. was born. he came up in atlanta, learning the gospel of hope from great civil rights leaders. this house and ebenezer baptist church just down the block, dr. king's church, are now national historic sites, but atlanta's role in the civil rights movement predates even dr. king. in 1906 race riots left the city one of the most segment galted in america. protests staged here pushed back against segregation, helped consolidate black voting power and improved economic opportunities in the black

community. a lot of that power rested here, auburn avenue. the thing that made the sweet auburn historic district so unique was the role that its churches and businesses played in the civil rights movement and the way we impacted the student protest movement that swept atlanta's black institutions. there was the 1945 march from mlk's church to atlanta city hall. the push to desegregate city buses in the late 1950s. the 1960 mass sit-ins at lunch counters inside atlanta department stores. the 1962 naacp boycott of restaurants and hotels for barring blacks from service. a massive rally the following year in hart park attended by 2,500 activists, including dr. king followed by the desegregation of atlanta's public schools. today 650,000 visitors come to see king's home every year. atlanta is now the home to both the king center and the national center for civil and human rights. both are working to advance

atlanta's civil rights legacy, and both are working to grow hope for equality for all. it's a topic our next guest knows a thing or two about. ari. >>. >> thank you for that report. joining us now is the man, martin luther king iii. welcome. >> thank you. good to be here. >> i think everyone at home can hear the cheers. it's exciting to have you here. when you look at this anniversary, we just added a civil rights act, and you think of next year, the 50th anniversary of the voting rights act, and you think of martin luther king's legacy. he wasn't marching for a holiday or for people to give speeches. we did see a bipartisan celebration of the civil rights act anniversary, which is fine, but we're not seeing the same bipartisanship on the hill, for example, with speaker boehner allowing a vote on the very bill that renewed the voting rights act. of course, the john lewis jim sensenbrenner bill. speak about that and what should

be done. >> until american people stand up, in a sense, as we did in the 1960s to let our congress people know, i think the speaker is operating based on who he is hearing from. the masses of people are not saying, look, we want to be engaged and able to vote. the fact that our city has created a new id, and the fact that there's no proof of any fraud is very -- is sad, and these are cities all over the state across america. but when people stand up, it takes just a few good women and men to bring about change. i think my father showed us that. he didn't have masses. yes, we saw 250,000 people at the march in washington, but most of the demonstrations were 50 to 100 people. >> when your father -- the year you were born, 1957, your father said that the negro has been betrayed by both the republican and the democratic party. now, that was years before l.b.j. stepped forward with the great society and the civil rights bill that changed the rit relationship between the plaque

"people" and the parties. do you think today the modern democratic party earns enough to get the overwhelming support from black people? is it taking black people for granted in a way? >> i would have to say that the party does not do enough, and, yes, the answer to that is yes, but, again, it's our responsibility to hold any party accountable. i'm not sure we do that. i think we have to find a way to hold the parties accountable as well as, you know, i don't think that it's -- we are not a monolithic people. while i happen to be a democrat, i think it's important for african-americans to be republicans. i think it's important for african-americans to be independent. i say this. i also think it's important to be engaged with the tea party. >> why would it be important for us to be engaged with the tea party? >> because the only way you can change -- the only way you can change is you have to be at least communicating. if there's no communication, you just let someone have an agenda. my dad would go and there were people who were meeting with whites who were against just our

being here, as you know. >> so on that point do you think the tea party's problem with president obama is only about his policies or something else about him? >> probably a combination of that. certainly the policies are the mask. right now we are dealing with race issues constantly in this country, and while we choose to run from them as opposed to confronting them head on a mystery to me. we need to always address race issues. we're looking at what is happening as it relates to mr. sterling or cliven bundy. these incidents happen each and every day to some -- to some african-american. if we have dialogue, if we teach diversity, sensitivity, human relations, i believe that's where we begin to get at some of these issues, but it has to start in kindergarten. >> i love that message. we're all americans. if we can't communicate, how do we make any progress in society? there's a great story about you that i love. when you are 8 years old and you are i think in your third great

class, and you felt firsthand what it was like to be harassed by racial comments and insults by a white boy, and you instead -- instead of fighting back, you turned it around, and you complimented him on his drawing. he stopped harassing you at that moment. in your life when you look back, how often have you turned a negative experience into a positive? i mean, isn't that what all of this is about? >> i think that is a part of what it's about. i think that we can in most cases at least people who are report to be civil and humane, there's a way you can find a way to connect. i think with all human beings. that's what we have to find a way to lift up where are we all alike? we can disagree. dad taught us how to disagree without being disagreeable. we as a society have not learned that yet. >> that's well put. i hi that's part of what this growing hope gathering is about. thank you for joining us. it's an honor. >> thank you for the opportunity. appreciate it.

>> up next, what is going -- more details. we'll have a tour of the greenhouse and the garden right behind us, and you can share your hope with us. mine is equality for all right now. tweet us yours with that hash tag, growing hope, or if you are not into that, come on by. we've got a whole website@msnbc.com/growing hope. stay with us. unlimited cash back. let that phrase sit with you for a second. unlimited. as in, no limits on your hard-earned cash back. as in no more dealing with those rotating categories.

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>> we are growing hope right here in atlanta. we are out 30 rock and we are in the community to talk about what matters most to you. we are at the sweet auburn festival. the gates are open, and this is our growing hope garden. it's built from the notion that when hope is nurtured, people are ready for action. when i think about atlanta, he think about the civil rights movement, and that was all about the hope of a generation. if you want to get involved, come down here to sweet auburn festival or join us at another of our growing hope events or join us on-line. log on to msnbc.com/growing hope. it's easy, and similar to what visitors here will do. you fill out some info, and includes your hopes for your community, whatever they may be. fighting inequality, better access to early childhood education, voting rights. whatever motivates you. if you are on-line, your hope will get added to our virtual tree, and can you hair it on facebook and twitter. whatever. you check out other people's

hope. it's all right here. since i know you're on your iphone or your computer right now doing this, let me share my hope with you. i hope for a senseible campaign finance system because our current one fuels inequality and injustice and so many of our biggest problems. if you can make it here, we'll print out your hope and plant it in the garden just like that. this massive mobile garden deals with all the things that we're hoemg hoping for. health and environment and better economy, better community, and, of course, better education for our kids because that is a pillar of growing hope. krystal has more on that. >> at the ron clark academy in southeast atlanta, the average day is anything but average. ♪ kids are cheering and dancing. >> i love the color in the

classroom. >> the class of science. >> energy. >> the core thing including myself on the wall. >> drums punctuate grammar lessons. animals bring science so life, and solving an algebra equation ends like this. ♪ >> hip-hop to harry potters hogwarts, and you get rca, only here competing houses are named after valued character traits. >> it's portuguese, and it means to give. >> this magical wonderland of education is the brainchild of ron clark. >> they make it magical. it's fun. it's exciting. it's hands on. we want kids to love it. it's a blend. it's a blend of true academic rigor, but we use these engaging strategies and methods so that all the kids are excited to get up to that level. >> and getting to the next level at this middle school is not all fun and games. >> the y and the n, what do you think we should do first here? what is the quad root of 81, everybody. >> three.

>> the quad root of 25, which is five. you got it? >> i remember getting my first -- >> that first month is definitely boot camp. >> it was. >> it's horrible. >> it was wanting to keep pushing, and -- >> it breaks you down a little bit, but then he teaches us how to lift each other back up. >> you got this. >> here we are pushing these kids. we're challenging them. frederick douglas said it's easier to build strong children than repair broken adults, and we are making sure that our kids are prepared so that when they leave us, they can go out and be successful in the real world. >> and keeping the spark is no magic trick either. >> we all bring our own unique brand, but because of him he better bring it to the top of your game. not because he demands it necessarily, but can you imagine being a teacher and having to go behind him and teach kids that have just left his class? >> clark is an accidental teacher. he honed his unique style in

rural north carolina and in east harlem. he was named disney's teacher of the year in 2000 and had the best-selling book on the 55 essential rules spelling out everything from how you greet someone to how you look at life. >> all the rules, you can't have your lock unlocked on your locker. >> how to shake somebody's hand firmly, not too tight, not too soft. >> you could bring your phone, but you couldn't keep it open. >> everybody knows this rule. no doritos are allowed in the school. >> we do have i allot of strict rules here. >> he is the reason why i wanted to be here. he is the most exciting person. he is old, but he has all this excitement like built up in him. it's just amazing. you wouldn't guess his age at all. >> in 2007 clark and fellow teacher of the year kim bearden built their dream school from scratch, their toughest assignment next. >> we looked at the building and looked back at each other and said it's perfect. it had this broken windows and old worn out factory, and it

shows that there's potential in everything, and we wanted to be in a place where we could uplift a community as well. >> seven years later students from this community and beyond are clambering to get in. last year 30 students were chosen out of 350 applications. >> when i first joined the academy, i thought it was a school for rich people or something like that. >> i was totally wrong. this is actually much more diverse school, and it has more african-americans and hispanic and people who are asian here. it's basically saying don't judge a book by its cover. >> we talk about race all the time. i know american teachers would extend to say i don't see color when i look at my class. i just see children. i love them all equally, but we feel and kim and i tell our teach thaerz you need to see color because if you don't see color, you don't see culture, and so we're very open with our students about race. we talk about issues that affect our kids. >> ability and socioeconomic background determines who gets in. it's a little more complicated

than that. >> teachers often talk about when they so many kids of so many different levels of skill and ability, how do you teach them all? we have students of diverse ability levels and diverse success before they came here academically, and we have 30 minute class just like the teachers do. >> can this really be replicated across the country? clarks says the teachers are the key. 20,000 teachers from 42 states and 22 countries have all trained here and all were welcomed with the same right of passage. >> this is the famous academy and it's the center of the school. the first thing any of them have to do when they come here is to get slide certified. >> we say in life a lot of people are taking the stairs. they're taking the boring way that everybody else has always been. we say in life sometimes you immediate to slide. you got to make your own path. we tell our teachers here, don't be afraid to teach in ways no one has ever thought much. we tell our kids, don't be afraid to have a thought no one has ever conceived of, and we tell visiting educate ors that

come in from around the world, when you go down sloot slide, you are part of this revolution. take this passion with you, and go back out to your classrooms and be better. >> ron clark said educators who have trained here have touched ten mule students, and as cool as what happens in this building is, what's really cool is the hope they're growing across the country. >> not every student that comes to this school can walk through the doors every day, but we regularly touch those teachers, and we know we're touching at least 20 kids in a classroom, and that really warms your heart. it really keeps you going. you know, now it's not about you, but it's about being selfless. >> it's incredible. at the same time it breaks your

heart. there are so many kids out there who are having a miserable education experience that won't have a shot in life because they're not getting what they need to and not being shown all the brilliance and the beauty that they have within them. it was an amazing day, and i was really excited to be able to share it with everyone. mroo it was such a moving package, and who needs to dance like that, by the way? it's an incredible job. >> i mean, you brought your game. really so moving. my take-away is the community, how they rely on each other. i also -- how happy they all look. they are all so thrilled to be learning and doing things together. also, they're confident, which is something that i think it's a difficult quality for anyone to develop, but for them to develop that as such an early age will help them month matter what they end up doing in life. i'm sure you saw that firsthand. >> these are middle schoolers, and they walk up to you with all the poise and self-confidence in the world. they give you a firm handshake and give you a hug. they ask you about your day. i mean, it is -- i would be hard pressed think of a lot of adults who have the poise and the grace

and the wisdom that these children do. >> yeah. it's so powerful to be nurturing that, and these young black kids, because just the challenge of developing self-esteem as a black person in this country is so hard, and it was so moving to see that in kids, the communication, skills, and the confidence, and i love what he said about dealing with race. i think a lot of people feel like being color-blind is the forward step. it's the most progressive step, and it's really not. being black is a big part of me. being white is a big part of you. if we don't acknowledge those things and are aware of those things, then we're not moving forward. dealing with that head on as this beautiful white man. he is educating all these black kids. it's -- >> i'm so glad you took us inside that school. one question i came away with, which is what kind of coffee is ron clark drinking, and can i get some. especially when he is doing -- dude, he is working hard and having fun all day. it also goes to resources, right? this is an incredible model. the question can we scale it, and the question about charter

schools is often a question whether we want to invest in our schools, right? if we think about the work here in atlantaed, you're telling this amazing story. nationally at the federal level, we're being told everything has to be fiscal austerity, and you raise the point about community. that's surely important. if you want a smaler class size or you want children that can be built up or a new slide and curriculum and well trained teachers, then we have to put our resources into that? >> then a sliding tuition scale, you pay what you can afford. it's very important to them that that he have a diverse group of socioeconomic brack grounds there. the atlanta community has sduded it's worth investing in, and i think, you know, one lesson that i took away from it, when you think about scaleability is we don't ask our population enough to invest directly in education. that was one thing i thought about. not every school can have a ron clark, but a lot of schools and they train 20,000 teachers can take some of the principles of

engagement and the confidence they've instilled in these children back to their home district. they're already impacting over ten million students. >> did you get on the trampoline? >> absolutely. that was how -- that was the first thing i did when i got there. my blood was rushing. it was an amazing day. i was really grateful to have a chance to do it. nutrition for the mind. up next, nutrition tore the body. meet the man whose mission it is to make healthy people from healthy food. first, a bit of breaking news from the fall-out of the clippers scandal. the nba has just named dick carsons ceo of the team. parsons is the former chairman of citigroup and of time warner. he has also served as a member of president obama's economic advisory team. this, of course, is the fall-out from those racist comments by team owner donald sterling. he has received a lifetime ban from the nba, and is vowing not to give up ownership of his team. more to come from atlanta next. i am totally blind.

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>> well, we are about to introduce you to someone who is helping to grow stronger, healthier communities. rashid nuri runs a truly living well center for natural urban agriculture. his garden which is only a short distance from us rose and provides fresh naturally grown food for families and local atlanta communities. people come to the garden from all over the area to volunteer to grow the foods they eat making eating fresh food for a community event. here's why this is so important. 13 million people across the country live in low income food deserts, as they should called. fresh food is essentially out of

their reach in those areas. it has soared and not surprisingly crushing health costs accompany that as well. clearly, the appetite exists for fresh, healthy food in these communities. they are hungry for it, and rashid, nuri, who is in the garden with us. this is incredible. i wish our audience watching on the tv sets could see where we are. we are surrounded by fresh herbs, vegetables, beautiful flowers that we have here on the set. you have really made this your mission in life to close this food gap. why here in atlanta, and how are you seeing life change? >> well, our work is transformed. people and places. atlanta is the greenest city in america by virtue of trees and open space. we have enough land in the met to pan area to provide all the fruits and vegetables not meat and grains, but all the fruits and vegetables to feed people in there's a way and the resources are provided. i think it's very important. it used to be that people who lived within walking distance of where their food was produced.

that doesn't happen now. your food travels 1,700 hilary clintons 2,000 miles before it gets to your table. the paradigm has shifted. the aigriculture paradigm has shifted. for us to continue to ship food from long distances to feed people locally makes no sense. we have seen a real deterioration of community institutions and community structure. how important is that community piece of what you are doing there? >> it's the most important part. everything -- the garden is the predicate, the foundation of

which we build and sell the food to people, consumers, restaurants, stores. mostly directly in the hands of people. we give -- we have different tiers of sales. one of the more important is for every dollar it's really the core part of the systemic raises. donald sterling is there, and there's a disproportionate impact on black and brown communities. there's lots of research that shows we tend to live further away from supermarkets and healthy food options than white

communities. how do we change that? right? how do we move forward and get the -- a lot of it is dealing with retail place from urban areas. how do we change that? >> some of that -- how do we change that is through the work that we're doing? i think there's a misnomer. i don't like the word food desert. it puts a color on it. you think of the poor people and people of color. living in food deserts, the fabbing is that folks in rich communities have to travel long distances to get their food as well as the folks that live in the poor communities. >> they have three times as many supermarkets as we do in poorer communities. >> yes and no. okay? the issue is economic justice, social justice, food sovereignty, food self-sufficiency. if i have to take two buss and a train to get to food, that creates an economic burden on me. >> yes. >> i think those are the economic injustice that is we need to look at. i think what we're trying to do is help educate all people across all socioeconomic levels

the importance of quality foods. quality foods in this country should be a right, not a privilege. as it stands right now, it's a privilege. those are the injustice that is we're trying to correct. >> how do you think it's going impact the young kids? we talk about obesedy, and that hits directly at the young kids. >> young kids, old kids, everybody. it's about quality food. the kinds of food that are being offered to us and what's prifl sent a neighborhood that we live. the children -- we have a wonderful summer camp. it's just amazing. a wonderful woman who runs, to see her work with those children, we do work in the schools teaching teachers. if a child plants a seed and watches it grow, they're likely to eat it. okay? they're also likely to say, hey, mommy, daddy, i want more of this because it tastes good. we have our summer camp. we provide -- we do luncheons all year long, but the summer camps, the children, some of them it's the healthiest food they've ever had. they are able to leave the camp and go back home and continue

with better habits that have been learned and established here. we have seen some of the some amazing transformations of young people whose health conditions after just two weeks of being out here, being outside, not stuck in front of a television or a computer tube or one of the other video games that they're playing, come out here and get in fresh air, eating fresh food, their health has changed, their attitudes have changed, and that's very exciting. >> ait's amazing the things that you are doing. i love the sense of community down here in atlanta. you're the perfect example of that. thank you so much for being with us. we appreciate it. up next, atlanta through our eyes. after all we've been here 12 hours, and now that is up next. yes, we do know cnn headquarters is also here. that did not stop us. keep wieting us at _#growing hope. we'll be right back. ♪

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today. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? we're back here in the sweet auburn district, the historic district of atlanta for our growing hope event. i went to college here to emery, so this city, atlanta, means a

lot to me. i saw a lot of the beauty of atlanta and some of the more difficult side of atlanta. one of the things that really sort of strikes me about where the city is right now is that the baseball team, right, that quintessential american pastime, the braves, are moving their stadium out of the city and into the suburbs. how do you all feel about the braves moving out? this is a painful part of what's going on in the city right now. that's going to cost tax dollars, it's going to cost jobs. that just represents some of the physical segregation that we see in this city that we don't necessarily see in some other cities where the urban centers are struggling but the suburbs are doing better or thriving. it's just difficult to see the city going two directions at once. >> you know, this is my first time visiting atlanta. actually i love it here. there's such a sense, though, of community, which is what i will take away from this. here we are talking about what we are all hopeful for. what i say i'm hopeful for is continuing to fight for

equality. but what that means, it's more than hope, right? it's actually believing that we can make something happen, that hope will actually lead to action. and i think as we talk about the way it used to be, segregated schools, remember those days, i hope that one day we'll say remember when you couldn't love what you wanted to love and i hope we get there. i think it's places like this, communities like this where change, real change is actually made. >> and that's what for me has been very inspiring and very restorative even about being here. getting to see the house where dr. king was born, getting to be here at the heart of where so much civil rights history was made. it reminds you the odds that they faced then seemed so long and so intractable and it's easy now to look at our political system and to want to throw our hands up and say it's impossible, the republicans are always going to stand in the way, they can never work together, what's going to change this. but the odds at that time seem

much longer than what we're facing now. so abby, i think you're right. the start of progress is hope. first you have to be optimistic and believe that it's worth putting yourself out there to try to make a change in your community and in the country. >> yeah, i think that's powerful thinking about the time we've spent, just a little time here and your time yesterday at the school in atlanta or as abby huntsman always calls it, atl. >> hash tag. >> #atl. what you saw at that school is one person with a vision executing it and touching all these children's lives, something martin luther king iii was saying to us today. not all those marches were big, but they started with a few people. we've been covering this terrible story in nigeria and talking about how do you even try to organize around something that is so intractable, far away and difficult. all of those things do start with someone standing up. we talk about growing hope and what does this mean trying to

get people to think what do they want to stand up for. it always starts with someone doing something. >> it's tricky when the obstacles become more invisible and more systemic and less difficult to face down than the things that we have before. but this is king center, the ebenezer baptist church is over there, so we are filled with hope on this day. that does it for us. remember, there's much more of msnbc's coverage from this growing hope live event in atlanta ahead of you tonight. reverend al is here at 6:00 p.m. eastern. chris hayes is here at 8:00 p.m. eastern and our friend, alex wagner, starts right after this break. [ female announcer ] who are we? we are the thinkers. the job jugglers. the up all-nighters. and the ones who turn ideas into action. we've made our passions our life's work. we strive for the moments where we can say, "i did it!" ♪ we are entrepreneurs who started it all...

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